90 



Mr Robertson of Ladykirk is of opinion, that the pro- 

 priety of drilling turnips, beans and potatoes, cannot be 

 doubted, and that the more labour and hoeing bestowed 

 on the crops, with judgment, and in dry weather, the bet- 

 ter will be the returns. He has also observed, that 

 drilled crops are less apt to be beat down in wet sea- 

 sons. 



It is remarked, from the highest authority in the Carse 

 of Cowrie, that the culture of white corn crops by the 

 drill, might be a beneficial mode of husbandry in that 

 valuable district, as it would be the means of extirpating 

 the growth of annual weeds, which are so destructive to 

 the spring crops in the Carse, particularly the beans, the 

 pease, and the oats sown early upon well frosted land, 

 which are often rendered not half a crop by the growth 

 of wild mustard. 



An intelligent farmer near Arbroath, (Mr Rennie of 

 Kinblethmont), states it as his opinion, that the drill sys- 

 tem ought to be adopted, wherever turnips, potatoes, 

 beans, or even pease, are sown ; the intervals not less 

 than twenty-seven inches, regularly horse-hoed, and the 

 rows hand-weeded by women ; which, if properly exe- 

 cuted, leaves the ground in as good order as if it had 

 undergone a naked fallow. None of the above-men- 

 tioned crops can be cultivated to advantage broadcast ; 

 for in case of its failure, the ground is sure to be left in 

 a wretched state indeed. In case of the soil being light, 

 and much infested with annual weeds, the drill system 

 may with great propriety be adopted with wheat, bar- 

 ley, and oats ; but in that case the intervals should not 

 exceed nine inches, to be either hand-hoed, or done 

 with a machine made for the purpose. The seed to be 

 deposited by a sowing-machine, and the grass-seeds co- 



